Child emperor rule in the late Roman West, AD 367-455

380 Pages·2014·1.86 MB·English

by  Meaghan McEvoy

OXFORD CLASSICAL MONOGRAPHS
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Child Emperor Rule in
the Late Roman West,
ad –
367 455
c
MEAGHAN A. M EVOY
1
3
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Preface
Thisbookaimstosetinitsfullcontexttheruleofchild-emperorsinthelate
Roman west from the late fourth until the mid-fifth century ad, and to
highlight the proliferation of minority governments of this period as a key
factorinthetransformationoftheimperialofficeinthelateRomanworld.
The late Roman empire has received considerable attention in recent
decades, yet the child-emperors of the period themselves have seldom been
considered worthy of notice. Some modern studies have offered extensive
coverageandanalysisoffourth-andfifth-centuryhistory,yetdonotidentify
or investigate the child-emperor as in any way exceptional.1 Others focus on
specific historians or writers of the period, such as Ammianus, Ausonius, or
Claudian,oronkeypoliticalfigures,suchasAmbroseofMilan,Stilicho,Galla
Placidia,orAetius;oronbroaderthemes,suchasaristocracyandsenateinthe
lateempire.2Andimmenselyvaluablethoughalloftheseworkshavebeenin
addressing many developments of the period, none of them view the acces-
sionsofaseriesofinfantemperorsasinanywaysurprising.
Evenworkswhichhavenotedthephenomenonofthechild-emperorinlate
antiquityhavethusfardealtonlywiththedepictionofyoungemperorsinthe
HistoriaAugustaandthetoposofchild-princesintextsoftheperiod.3Studies
of the so-called ‘generalissimos’ of the western Roman empire (a term used,
not unreasonably, by many modern scholars to describe the generals who
frequentlydominatedthewesterngovernmentsoftheperiod)tracemerelythe
riseoftheirprotagonistsratherthanthestructuralandpoliticalcircumstances
thatmadesucharisepossible.4Andthoughanumberofrecentandexcellent
studies have highlighted the stresses and strains of the late Roman imperial
office, changes in the machinery of government in this era, and the develop-
mentofimperialpolicyoverthisperiod,child-emperorrulehascontinuedto
beseenmerelyasacuriosity,ratherthanasignificantdevelopmentworthyof
attentioninitsownright.5
1 Jones(1964a);Stein(1959);Seeck(1919).
2 Matthews(1989);Cameron(1970);Sivan(1993);McLynn(1994);Mazzarino(1942)Sirago
(1961);Oost(1968a);Sivan(2011);Zecchini(1983);Coulon(2000);Stickler(2002);Matthews
(1975).
3 Hartke(1951);MolèVentura(1992).
4 See particularly O’Flynn (1983). Further examples of use of ‘generalissimo’: Matthews
(1975),302;Holum(1982),49;Heather(2005),223.
5 Lenski (2002); Kelly (2004); Errington (2006); and for the rule of child-emperors as a
curiosity,seee.g.Szidat(2011),54–5.
vi Preface
Inviewoftheabsenceofanyothercollectivestudyofthereignsofthefour
western child-emperors of the Valentinian/Theodosian house—Gratian, Va-
lentinian II, Honorius, and Valentinian III—and the general avoidance of
detailed political analysis of the late fourth and fifth centuries by modern
scholars, a chronological investigation of the period seemed the best way to
proceed. On examining the wide range of sources for the period and the
questions they raised in their turn, it quickly became clear that a careful re-
examination of each of the reigns of the four emperors in question, an
unpicking and reconstruction of the politics of the period, was essential in
order adequately to appreciate the gradual evolution of attitudes towards
imperial rulership, to the individual rulers themselves, and to the role of
those who surrounded and influenced them across this eighty-year period.
I have chosen in consequence to examine each reign through a narrative
analysis of its politics and in the process to highlight certain important
tendencies, to situate the contingent events in their structural context, and
intheconclusiontodrawoutthekeychangeswhichwerethusrevealed,andto
offer an explanation which takes into account both the immediate politics of
promotion and also longer-term systemic changes. My approach has thus
been to try to differentiate between the ‘deeper’structural constraints under-
lying and framing the politics and cultural assumptions of groups and indi-
viduals on the one hand, and the conjunctural or short-term decisions or
events on the other, but at the same time to pinpoint their ‘emergent’
characteristics,thatistosay,theresultsofthecombinationorre-combination
of such different levels of social being as reflected and realized in the actual
behaviour of individuals—generals, senators, churchmen—or groups—the
senate,aristocracy,thearmy.
Inevitably, this raises the issue of the tension between a narrative account
and a structural analysis. While a histoire événementielle alone is perhaps an
inadequate vehicle on which to carry an analysis of causal relationships, a
narrativeaccountoftheverycomplexpoliticsoftheperiod,particularlyfrom
c.395onwards,provedtobethebestwaytobringoutandtoillustratevarious
processesofchangeinculturalattitudeandsocialpractice.AsaresultIhave
tried to exploit this possibility, while always bearing in mind the different
levels of causal relations referred to above. In thus reconstructing from the
sourcesahistoryoftheperiod,which,forthefifthcenturyespecially,hasnot
yet been firmly established by modern scholarship, this focus on political
narrative is able both to situate events in their historical context rather than
presenting them as isolated eventualities, and in so doing, as the story of the
perioditselfunfolds,todrawoutthestructuraldevelopments.
Acknowledgements
Thisbookwouldneverhavebeenwrittenwithoutthesupportandencourage-
mentofagreatmanypeople,ofwhomonlyahandfulcanbenamedhere.
I must firstly thank the Australian committee of the John Crampton
Travelling Scholarships, which so generously supported me throughout my
studies at Oxford, and first gave me the chance to pursue this topic as my
DPhil.dissertationatNewCollege.Inaddition,Iamimmenselygratefultothe
British School at Rome, which offered me a glorious nine-month stay at the
end of my DPhil. to begin revising this thesis for publication, and the Dum-
barton Oaks Research Library and Collection, which similarly so generously
supported me for a semester in the beautiful surroundings of Georgetown,
Washington,DC.Finally,IamsincerelygratefultotheBritishAcademy,and
to Corpus Christi College, Oxford, which has provided me with such a
supportive, congenial, and active community of scholars, both late antique
andother,withinwhichtopursuemyresearchasapostdoctoralfellow.
My supervisor, Peter Heather, has provided innumerable valuable insights
and constant encouragement over the course of my research in the last few
years, and borne with great good humour my lengthy struggles to pull into
shapetheparticularlyunwillingHonorius,andIamsincerelygrateful.Imust
also thank my examiners, John Matthews and Neil McLynn, who offered so
manythoughtfulandconstructivesuggestions,andNeilinparticular,whohas
donehisbesttoguidemytransformationofthisworkfromthesistobook.All
errorsofjudgement,ofcourse,remainmyown.Myheartfeltthanksgoalsoto
twoparticularlystalwartfriendswhohaveshownsuchdeterminedfaithinme
for many years now—Paul Tuffin and John Haldon. A number of other
scholars also deserve special mention as well for their thoughtful reading of
chaptersandsuggestionsmade,particularlyFergusMillar,NoelLenski,Roger
Tomlin, and Caillan Davenport; and for their helpful advice and encourage-
ment:JanWillemDrijvers,JillHarries,andDonnchaO’Rourke.Iamalsovery
gratefultothosewhohavegenerouslyofferedforthcomingworkoftheirown
toassistmeinmyresearch:MarkHumphries,AndrewGillett,ClaireSotinel,
HagithSivan,andPeterVanNuffelen.Thankyoualsototheproductionteam
at OUP who have patiently seen this project through the various stages of
preparationtoreachthispoint.
IoweagreatdebtofgratitudetotheClassicsDepartmentoftheUniversity
ofAdelaideinSouthAustralia,whichfirstintroducedmetotheclassical,and
thenthelateantique,worldasanundergraduateandencouragedmetogoon
tofurtherresearch.
viii Acknowledgements
A number of other faithful and patient friends deserve special mention:
Anne Carter, Anna Donaghy, Carly de Jonge, and Frances Hansford espe-
cially. My particular thanks go also to Roger and Debbie Tebbutt, who have
probably long regretted their generous offer that I treat their idyllic home as
my own here in the UK, but have nevertheless shown tremendous patience
andhospitalitythroughoutmyrelentlessvisits.Lastbutcertainlynotleast,my
greatest thanks must go to my family, whose love of all things historical has
influencedmyoutlookforsomanyyears,andwhosesupportformehasbeen
soconstant(andsooftenhappilyrepresentedbyairmailpackagesofHaigh’s
chocolates)—to Mum and Dad, Kieran and Bec, and perhaps most import-
antlyofalltomychild-emperormodelHunter,forremindingmefrequently
how a 4- or 6-year-old might really behave (a role which I am sure baby
Sebastianwillsoonfulfiltoo!).Idedicatethisefforttothem.
Contents
ListofAbbreviations x
Introduction:SpesReiPublicae:TheHopeoftheState? 1
PartOne: GratianandValentinianII
1. TheEmperorintheLateRomanWorld 23
2. GratianandValentinianII:SettingthePrecedent 48
3. Long-termSuccessandFailure 71
4. AdjustingtheImperialImage 103
PartTwo: Honorius
5. AnAccidentofPower? 135
6. TheRegimeofStilicho 153
7. TheInterregnumandtheRiseofFlaviusConstantius 187
PartThree: ValentinianIII
8. TheStruggleforPower 223
9. TheRegimeofAetius 251
10. ValentinianIII:Child-turned-AdultEmperor? 273
Conclusion 305
Bibliography 330
Index 355